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Starting a Business in Jeffco?

If you're thinking of starting your own small business in Jefferson County, you will definitely want to attend our Small Business Basics series of free workshops at the Arvada Library this month.

Starting a Small BusinessJayne Reiter with the Jeffco Business Resource Center will help you understand where and how to register your business and what licenses are required at this free class. Learn the various legal structures available, taxation fundamentals, and funding options for a new business.6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17

Writing a Business PlanFollow the first class with this seminar that will introduce the five essential elements of a business plan, including finances, goals and marketing.6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18

It’s time again to showcase some of the authors who’ll be appearing at the Arvada library’s Books and Bites program on Friday, September 20th, from 6-8:30 pm.

Our first author is Kathy Harris. Kathy lives in the foothills west of Denver in a cabin built during the 1920s. The cabin’s haunted, so it’s lucky she shares the space with her husband, son, and two untrainable golden retriever mixes. Kathy has been a bestselling author on Amazon.com and her book A Good Kind of Knowing earned the top literary award from the National Federation of Press Women for 2013. She has also just released her first children’s ebook, Higgenbloom and the Dancing Grandmas. Learn more about Kathy here.

Readers who enjoy paranormal romance and urban fantasy will want to come see Thea Harrison. Thea is a bestselling author on the New York Times and USA Today’s booklists thanks to her Elder Races series. The first book in the series, Dragon Bound, won the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award for paranormal romance and was named Book of the Year by the Romantic Times Book Review. It was also listed as one of 2011’s Best Romances on Amazon.com. You can visit with Thea at her website.

Dale Lovin, our third author, definitely followed the old advice to “write what you know about.” Dale was an FBI agent for twenty-five years with a focus on violent crime investigation, and those experiences help him make The Mirror in the River a realistic, gripping suspense novel about human trafficking and a former agent caught in the crosshairs of corrupt politicians. This is a book you will not want to put down.

Come by and meet these and other authors at the Arvada library’s Books and Bites program. You can find our previous author spotlights here, here, and here.

Our third spotlight on some of the authors appearing at the Arvada Library’s Books and Bites program is themed around what philosopher William James called “the varieties of religious experience.”

Brenda Lee’s Out of the Cocoon fascinates readers with its true account of Brenda’s experiences as a Jehovah’s Witness. Trapped in the cult from childhood, Brenda recalls harrowing psychological abuse and the loss of her family as she finds the strength to escape. But don't be fooled into thinking this book is a dour read. You'll find plenty of deft humor to balance out the horror, as Brenda's memoir also manages to capture the absurdities of her situation. This is a great book for anyone interested in the psychology of cults, written by an author who is a true survivor.

What Would Your Father Say? by Janice McDermott provides readers with quite a different take on a religious upbringing. Janice vividly describes her early life in rural Iowa, where she grew up in poverty after the tragic death of her father. Spending time in an orphanage and then a convent, Janice takes a story that might seem somber and turns it into a quirky and uplifting adventure that teaches the power of faith and hope.

We hope you will come and meet Janice and Brenda, along with our other authors, at Books and Bites at the Arvada Library on Friday, September 20th from 6-8:30 PM.

You can read about some of the other authors we’ve spotlighted here and here.

Our second spotlight on the many authors for adult readers appearing at the Arvada Library’s Books and Bites program on Friday, September 20th from 6 - 8:30 pm includes Paul M. Levitt, Sean Eads, and T.R. Maxus.

Paul M. Levitt is a professor English at the University of Colorado with a diverse publishing history that includes adult fiction, literary criticism, and books for young readers. His 2012 novel Stalin’s Barber, with its rich characterization and immersive storytelling, really shows Paul’s strength as a writer of historical fiction and is a must-read for anyone interested in Russia’s Soviet era.

A reference librarian at the Standley Lake Public Library for the past ten years, Sean Eads has published both fiction and non-fiction. Sean’s novel The Survivors was a 2013 Lambda Literary Award finalist in the science fiction category. The Survivors is a dark comedy about the invasion of Earth by aliens who don’t seem to realize the planet is inhabited. These aliens are as numerous as the Borg, but go ahead and resist them as much as you like—they really don’t mind!

The hallmarks of T.R. Maxus’s writing are ruthless plotting and a deft hand at mixing action, humor, and philosophy. With just the right mix of Vince Flynn and William Johnstone, Maxus’s first novel, Aenamus: Silent Blood is a political thriller that harkens back to the I’ll-take-care-of-this-problem-myself philosophy found in the best of pulp fiction.

You can check out the first Books and Bites spotlight here! And don’t forget to come and meet these and other writers at the Arvada Library on Friday, September 20th at 6 pm.

Ever play marbles? No? Ever heard of it? It's a great game of skill and fun that kids played "back in the day." While the game was mostly played by boys, there have been some pretty good girl players, too! Read about the life and marble-playing adventures of Freedom in the Marble Queen, Stephanie Blake's debut novel and a Colorado Book Award Finalist!

Come meet Stephanie Blake at Books and Bites on September 20th, 6 to 8:30 pm, at the Arvada Library.

On Friday, September 20th from 6 to 8:30 PM, the Arvada Library will host Books and Bites, a casual opportunity to meet more than thirty Colorado writers, many of them award winners. With authors for children, teens, and adults, Books and Bites promises to be a fun and relaxed literary event for everyone.

For the next few weeks, we’ll be spotlighting some of the fascinating authors you can expect to meet at Books and Bites. This week we want to introduce you to Lois Lindstrom Kennedy and Carol Turner, two authors with unique insights into Colorado history.

A former schoolteacher, Lois Lindstrom Kennedy specializes in non-fiction of the local history variety, and has published several books and monographs about Arvada since dedicating herself to the subject in 1971. In books like Ralston’s Gold, Lois has written in detail about Lewis Ralston, the prospector from Georgia who made the Rocky Mountain region’s first documented gold discovery in 1850.

You may know Carol Turner from the history column she writes in the Broomfield Enterprise. Carol’s most recent book, Notorious Jefferson County, describes the dark and seamy side of Jeffco’s frontier days, amazing readers with a wild cast of rogues, frauds and murderers. Take a shot of bourbon while you peruse this book and you’ll feel like you’re in a saloon!

You can check out their books from the library or purchase them at the event. Until then, be on the lookout for more Books and Bites author spotlights in the days ahead!

I always love hearing about the inspiring efforts to build libraries or bring books to children in third world countries, such as the Donkey Mobile Libraries and The Camel Bookmobile (fiction based on a true story). Turns out a nonprofit group here in Arvada is doing the same thing. They are called SCOPE International, and among other projects, they develop school and community libraries in Kenya. They have an exhibit of bright and interesting photographs on the display wall at Standley Lake this month, and they are having a reception this Saturday, July 13 at 2:00 in the Standley Lake meeting room. Come learn more about their noble endeavors and adventures!